I figured I might as well get the obvious one out of the way, rather than going in any particular seasonal order (there IS an entrance I love in S3, but it's probably one that I'll have to cut myself and see if I can get it up on youtube if I actually want to show the clip... )

Castiel - Lazarus Rising 4x01

This is arguably everyone's favourite entrance. It's kind of hard to deny that it's badass. I mean... obviously, you have the build-up, wind picking up so strongly that it starts blowing the roof from the rafters, we've seemingly got lighting outside, and electrical surges that are blowing out the lights inside. We have Castiel walking forward nearly unfliching at being shot in the chest (he blinks... I mean, full credit to Misha that he was able to control his reaction enough to ONLY blink as the squibs in his chest went off.)

Then, after all that, he treats his opening line like this is going to be a normal conversation - "We need to talk, Dean - alone."

And yes, I know his opening line is actually "I'm the one that gripped you tight and raised you from perdition" - but that's in answer to a question. Castiel's first volunteered conversation starter is to say "We need to talk, Dean." Then, he seemingly doesn't say anything more as he let's Dean check on Bobby - reassuring him that he's okay.

I have to explain why all this is cool though, otherwise, it's me just reciting the scene... there's a juxtaposition going on here, between three things - first, there's the POWER that Castiel obviously has - he's the biggest thing we've seen in the series thus far. The most unknown, the most potentially destructive... and that's contrasted with his extremely calm matter-of-fact demeanor. So often, when we see powerful supernatural beings on this show, they're coupled with an over-the-top personality to match - a touch of cackling villain to go with their inherent danger. Castiel doesn't have that at all. He's actually FAIRLY ADORABLE, at least in the instant where he almost smiles when he says that Dean already knew that his voice was overwhelming... like, "hey, human, can we look back on those times I accidentally freaked you the fuck out trying to say hi, before I clued in that you couldn't hear me, and laugh yet? Because that would really help me out relation-ally here."

But, the other thing we're contrasting Castiel's calm demeanor with is Dean's very angry-freaked-out demeanor... which is understandable. And what we get here, because as an audience member, we're identifying with Dean in this instance - is not just the danger of Castiel's power and presence, but also Castiel poses a psychological danger to Dean, as he immediately zeros in on the fact that Dean doesn't think he deserves to be saved. At this point, even not knowing what Dean did in hell, the audience already knows from S2 and S3 that Dean has giant self-worth issues... and bringing them up is NOT GOOD when Dean is already off balance.

There's also the wing reveal in this scene - and by far, it's STILL the best wing reveal they've ever done, in my opinion. No other wing reveal has ever been as awesome as this one.

And, of course, Castiel's entrance also serves as an entrance for God into the narrative. Now, how you feel about that differs from person to person, but you can't deny that it was QUITE THE GAME CHANGER.

Sidenote 1: Man, how I wish they had kept angels THIS bad-ass... I know why they "clipped" them from a writing perspective - but in my opinion, they could have done so much more if they hadn't. They wouldn't have been able to do the storylines they chose to do, for sure, so the entire series after, say, S7, would have been different, but it would have been cool different. (The trick would have been limiting the number of angels/angel-storylines, rather than limiting angel's powers. And possibly ONLY "clipping" Castiel, as they did in S5, rather than clipping all angels. Not only that, but to me fallen-angel/outcast Castiel is WAY more interesting a plot-line than 90% of the angel plotlines they actually did.)

Sidenote 2: Another reason I love this scene, and actually the whole episode, is because Dean is wearing Sam's clothes in it. Look at him! Meeting his angel BFF for the first time in a shirt and jacket that is obviously too big for him. He's ADORABLE. They are both ADORABLE and AWKWARD and this is why they are BFF4EVA.

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Oooh, yes - an awesome entrance. I love that Dean is cocky as he can be in the face of Castiel, but when Castiel steps up close, talking about Dean's inner, secret weakness, his gets all stiff, clamp-jawed, *furious*, under the terror. Dean hates being *seen*. And he hates people in his space.

I, too, wish they'd not made the Angels so frequent. Like demons, they were better when they were only a few at a time on Earth.

They could have *easily* said that it's very hard to find people devout enough to pray for an angel to ride them, and solved that issue.

And/or they could have made angels, like demons, more destructive to their hosts or something and thus not able to hang out for long (though that doesn't work for Castiel unless you find a reason why he can stay in Jimmy all that time).

Yeah, it's always frustrating when the writers introduce super-powered beings/things and then have to figure out how to walk back from it.

Yes, exactly - Dean REALLY hates being "seen" and his response is always anger stemming from fear of vulnerability... and I mean, understandably so, Dean has never lived a life where he can afford to be vulnerable in front of people - ESPECIALLY "people" of untold power that might have malicious goals.

You wouldn't even need to explain the lack of angels. Why were they not on earth before this, besides "the garrison" that was non-interfering? Answer: they didn't want to be and/or they weren't ordered to be. Angels PREFER heaven - we know this as well. So, if the apocalypse is their goal, and the apocalypse is thwarted, have the majority of the host accept this and return to their non-interfering ways. You can still have angel plots, but have them with one or two rogue angels - then explore what that means? Can these angels secure their vessels? Are they from the garrison? Do they know earth well or not well? The boys by S5 are already invisible to being tracked, so they CAN sneak up on an angel, but how do they win in a fight? The angels could STILL serve as "big bads" and they'd legitimately be big bads, instead of having to bring back Lucifer (a plot line I hated) have it be some other angel, that's just as menacing because they're an angel, and angels are still terrifying.

Instead, because they made it an angel free-for-all, they had to think of ways to take their wings away... and now they've decided that there are only 10 angels left and THAT's why we don't see angels... like, dudes, just say "the angels have decided that non-involvement is best" - I mean, after the defeat of Raphael and the leviathan mishap, it would have been LOGICAL for angels to be like "yeah, no, we're staying the HEAVEN away from earth and we're not talking to Castiel anymore, he screwed up big time."

Man, ALL OF THIS. So much all of this.*sigh*Oh, well. I takes what I can get. I love the idea of them just - not wanting to be on Earth and/or 'well, we failed, we're done' kind of thing. And rogue angels are much more interesting when there are just one or two and they are not some overly-convoluted plot line.

OMG, I hated the Lucifer stuff, too. ENOUGH already, argh.

I think you would enjoy this writer SO MUCH.She went through all of season one, two, and three, maybe four? Maybe five...i can't remember, argh!

Anyway - she's a film buff, she loves Show, and she loves the boys. Her recap/reviews are *so* amazingly interesting; full of film/directing info, full of insights, just - wow.

Particularly: Breaking Down the Schtick: Jensen Ackles, Physical Comedy, Objectification, Consent, and Other Supernatural Topics Inspired By Three Seconds of Footage

That is an amazing bit of writing, I think the third or fourth thing she wrote about the boys. And then she wrote about Dean's beauty, his vulnerability, how everybody wants to *get a piece of that*, and how Dean is constantly either using it, hating it, or totally failing to use it.

Thanks! You're like the third person who has recommended that blog to me - so I should really read it, I think! I'm the worst with following up with things - but seriously, I know you're the second person this week alone, so sounds like I should really make time to check it out.

Castiel is other-worldly here--he has no grasp of what makes humans tick and his mannerisms are so at odds with his words...he has no clue why his words would trigger Dean's fight-or-flight instinct--after all, he's just relaying a message...

Angels in season 4 were terrifying and intriguing and mysterious...Now they are just whiny. Sigh. Unfortunately the exact same thing is also true about demons.

Someone on the writing staff thinks bureaucrats and middle-management types are scariest thing on earth, apparently...

Someone on the writing staff thinks bureaucrats and middle-management types are scariest thing on earth, apparently...

I mean, I think this reflect the times - but I also think that Supernatural is best when it's timeless and universal... so focusing on family and general morality/ethics, rather than politics... and as much as I agree with Supernatural's political stances, and specific moralities, I think that turning the the angels into political allegory was a mistake. One could easily blame the later show-runners, but really, I think it started with Zachariah... and he was a fantastic villain, but he was fantastic because he was SINGULAR. As soon as you turn all angels into "suits", it becomes annoying, redundant, and runs the risk of accidentally being anti-intellectual/middle-class, rather than anti-corruption.

If you want to get into politics though - At it's heart, Supernatural is pro-middleclass, even though our heroes are working-class, because they are working to SAVE the middle class. And that's really as far as they ever should have taken it. Again, because if your villains start representing ALL middle-management, instead of just corruption, you've changed what worked about the show.

That all being said, I do understand, in the current political climate, why the writers fell into the anti-businessman stance, as current mismanagement of the country is being done after an election that promised to run the country like a business (something that is disastrous to do with countries - because countries AREN'T businesses.) So, yeah, I guess much like the clipping of angel wings, I understand WHY the writers did it, but I don't like the fact that they did.

it started with Zachariah... and he was a fantastic villain, but he was fantastic because he was SINGULAR.

I so much agree with this. The whole demons-and-angels-are-basically-the-same by showing them in suits sitting in bars together is so boring as to be pretty much unwatchable. Zachariah was definitely the exception because he was the only one who behaved this way up to that point in the story, which made the point about corporate bureaucracies much more effective.

I mean, "demons and angels are basically the same" worked when they were the same because they were both working to bring about the apocalypse... but again, just like Zachariah, that's where it should have ended. Once the apocalypse happened, it's not like they would still have the same goals. Demons would foolishly want Lucifer to win, angels would want Michael to win, etc.

The fact that the apocalypse didn't happen - again, you could have had ROGUE angels teaming up with demons to try to get it to happen again, but that's all it should have been... because the whole point of Anna and Castiel's fight with Uriel was to show that the angels were not UNITED in that goal.

Now, that being said, I DID like the scene with the two "grunts" drinking in a bar, just because since they were going the middle-management route, it made sense that the "working-class" of two rival "companies" would have the same annoying experience as one another... but that scene would have really only been effective if it had WENT somewhere. Again, perhaps the grunts getting sick of being treated like cannon fodder and CHANGING things, or bringing up the fact that demons aren't loyal and angels aren't united (in the absence of God). The scene becomes boring in retrospect, because it led to nothing - it ended up being more-of-the-same boring filler.

Really good commentary. I loved Castiel in Seasons 4 & 5 and wish the fallen angel/outcast story line had continued instead of what they did to him, but I guess that's why I'm re-watching those seasons. They were so GOOD!